City designated by government ordinance (Japan)
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| Administrative divisions of Japan |
|---|
| Prefectural level |
| Prefectures (都道府県 todōfuken) |
| Subprefectural level |
| Subprefectures (支庁 shichō) Designated cities |
| Municipal level |
| Core cities (中核市 chūkaku-shi) Special cities Special wards (Tokyo) |
A city designated by government ordinance (a designated city or Government Ordinance City (Japanese: 政令指定都市 seirei shitei toshi or 政令市 seirei shi)) is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000; has important economic and industrial functions; and that is considered a "major city". The classification was created by the first clause of Article 252, Section 19 of the Local Autonomy Law of Japan.
As of 2006, no cities that have been granted this status have later lost it.
Designated cities are delegated many of the functions normally performed by prefectural cities, making them almost on par with the prefectures themselves. Tokyo is notably absent from the list, as it is legally not a single city; instead, Tokyo is Japan's sole designated metropolis (都 to) and has full prefectural powers.
[edit] List of designated cities
The list designated cities of Japan below is arranged by the date they were granted designation status.
- Kobe (1956)
- Kyoto (1956)
- Nagoya (1956)
- Osaka (1956)
- Yokohama (1956)
- Kitakyushu (1963)
- Fukuoka (1972)
- Kawasaki (1972)
- Sapporo (1972)
- Hiroshima (1980)
- Sendai (1989)
- Chiba (1992)
- Saitama (2003)
- Shizuoka (2005)
- Sakai (April 1 2006)
Niigata and Hamamatsu will become designated on April 1, 2007. Okayama is slated to become designated somewhere in the 2000s, due to the possible upcoming mergers.
[edit] External links
ko:정령지정도시 nl:Decretaal gedesigneerde stad ja:政令指定都市 zh:政令指定都市
